i 82 
BRITISH BIRDS. 
OF THE DIVERS. 
- The bills are flrong, ftraight, and pointed : the 
upper mandibles the longeft ; the edges' of each 
bending inwards : noftrils linear, the upper part 
divided by a fmall cutaneous appendage : tongue 
long, pointed, and ferrated on each fide near the 
bafe : thighs placed far backward : legs thin and flat, 
and extended horizontally : the toes, four in num- 
ber ; the exterior the longeft ; the back one fmall, 
and joined to the interior by a thin membrane : tail 
fliort, confifling of twenty feathers. Thefe birds 
are broad, flat, and long bodied, and fwim in a 
fquat pofition on the water. Ornithologifls enu- 
merate eight fpecies of this genus, fix of which, be- 
fides fome doubtful varieties, frequent the Britifh 
fhores. 
